Hey guys! So sorry for the long wait, we had technical difficulties haha Anyway thanks for reviewing and being so patient, enjoy the chapter!

Percy-

Percy did not want to open his eyes that morning. But he had no choice in the matter, for someone was knocking like a maniac of the front door of cabin three. He groggily opened his eyes and blinked a few times at his clock. It was early in the morning and all Percy could wonder was, 'Why in Hades would anyone want to wake me up at this ungodly hour?' But he got up and walked slowly to the door. When Percy opened it, it was Annabeth.

"Hey, sleepy head!" She greeted after she saw me let out a long yawn. But then she said in concern, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Percy slowly yawned back.

"That's good," She said, "Guess what we're doing today?"

"Hmm… we're going to go to Rome?"

Annabeth laughed. "Not yet," She said, "Try again."

"We're going to go to the Empire State Building." Percy guessed.

"Nope,"

"Ok, I give up!" Percy said, throwing his hands up into the air. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to your house," Annabeth stated calmly, watching Percy for his reaction.

"Really?" He was wide awake now, and his eyes were bright with excitement, "When are we going?"

"Anytime you want," Annabeth said, smiling at his enthusiasm.

"Great, let's go right now!" Percy exclaimed. It didn't matter to him anymore that it was such an ungodly hour of the morning.

They picked up a few strays along the way to Half-Blood Hill. First, they picked up Frank and Hazel, and both of them didn't seem to be doing anything anyways. And then they ran into Jason.

"Piper's doing something with her cabin," He said, "I usually don't like to join because somehow the conversation always ends up being about either make-up or boys… I can't really relate to either."

The group of demigods laughed and invited him to tag along. He took the opportunity gladly.

At the Big House, they stopped by Chiron's office to let him know they were leaving and that Hazel, Frank, and Jason were tagging along. Chiron gave them a big speech about driving safely, during which Percy blanked out which probably wasn't good because he was the one driving. After they promised to be safe, Chiron gave them the keys to one of the Camp's Delphi Strawberry Vans.

"Percy, slow down. Do you really want to get pulled over?" Annabeth asked cautiously. She could tell he was excited by the gleam in his eyes, but everyone else in the Van thought he had better slow down. After all, he had just passed the Gray Sisters' Taxi and only the Mist was stopping them from being pulled over. But eight months was a long time, even if it wasn't to Hera.

Before the van had even stopped, the group of demigods could see Sally running out of her apartment to see her son. Percy parked the van quickly and got out. He and Sally hugged for a long time, and the demigods could see that Percy was a bit taller than Sally now.

Percy was so happy to see her, that he almost thought he would cry (out of joy, of course), but he had told himself on the way there that he was not going to cry on this trip.

Eventually, they broke apart and Annabeth gave Sally a hug, but it was noticeably shorter than Percy's.

"Mom, these are my friends, Hazel, Frank, and Jason," Percy introduced.

Sally shook each of the three demigods' hand, "Hello, I'm Sally Jackson," She introduced herself. "But you can call me Sally."

"Nice to meet you," They said.

"Why don't you all come inside? I made cookies," She suggested.

"Your mom seems so nice!" Hazel whispered to Percy while they walked towards the front door.

Percy smiled in agreement and then they all followed Sally inside.

The apartment was just like Percy remembered from 8 months ago. Small, but cozy. The delicious smell of homemade chocolate chip cookies was in the air. Blue chocolate chip cookies.

They all sat down in the living room and Sally placed a plate of cookies on the coffee table. Jason, Hazel, and Frank looked at them questionably.

"I'll explain later," Percy told them.

"Yes, but right now you have to explain WHERE THE HADES YOU'VE BEEN FOR THE PAST EIGHT MONTHS! YOU DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I'VE BEEN-"

"-I did leave a message," Percy mumbled.

"-NOT KNOWING WHERE MY SON IS! AND YOUR MESSAGE HARDLY SAID ANYTHING AND-" Even though she was yelling, Percy could tell that his mom wasn't mad. Worried, definitely. Mad, no. She was way too happy that she was still alive to be mad.

"Percy, where have you been, why didn't you call or Iris message or… anything?" She was just plain right upset now.

"I'm sorry, mom, I…" He exchanged looks with Jason, "It's a long story, really."

"Well, let's hear it," Sally said.

So Percy recounted his adventure at Camp Jupiter just as he had to Annabeth except with added comments from Hazel and Frank. Sally listened intently, without interrupting.

"…And I'm sorry that I didn't call earlier but… a lot's been going on. I guess I just needed time to think it through," He concluded, "I'm sorry."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

Sally sighed, "Well, that is a lot to take in," She seemed to search for something to say, but apparently couldn't come up with anything. "I'm just glad you're safe."

"Me too," Percy agreed.

"Me three," Annabeth added.

"He was very brave. I don't think anyone could've handled it nearly as well as he did, except maybe Jason. And I'm sure Jason was brave too, but I still haven't heard your side of the story," Frank said.

Jason appeared to be lost in thought. Then he looked up and noticed people looking at him. "What? Sorry, I missed that."

"Never mind," Frank decided after a moment of thought.

"Well, I'm glad he was of some use to you, I'd feel pretty disappointed if he had just sat around feeling sorry for himself for eight months," Sally teased.

"Oh ha-ha. Very funny," Percy joked back.

"We should probably get going soon, guys. Chiron said to be back around lunch," Annabeth reminded them.

Percy looked at the clock and realized how much time had passed while they had told their story.

"Right. You guys need to start preparing for your big quest coming up," Sally said with an upbeat tone, but Percy knew she was very disappointed that they were leaving.

She walked with them back outside and gave out hugs to all of Percy's friends. And she asked Annabeth to watch Percy's back.

"We'll wait in the van," Annabeth told Percy, patting his shoulder.

He nodded. Goodbyes were never fun.

"Paul was hoping to catch you, but he's been out studying for the past few months in Asia while keeping an eye out for you. He knows you're back but he couldn't manage to book a plane fast enough. He'll be sorry that he missed you," Sally told him.

Percy nodded in agreement.

Sally raised her hand up to Percy's cheek, "You're growing up way too fast. Stop."

"Unfortunately, I can't make that happen." His eyes were starting to sting. But Percy told himself that he would not cry. At least not in front of his mom. "I'm really going to miss you," He said, with his voice cracking.

"I'll miss you too," A single tear rolled down Sally's face, and Percy could tell she was also trying not to cry. "Stay safe, will you?"

"I will, mom." Now Percy's eyes were starting to become wet.

"Keep Annabeth safe too. And all your friends. Look out for each other."

"We will. And we're going to win this war," Percy tried to say it with a lot of confidence, but he wasn't an actor.

"Come here," Sally said and she wrapped him in a hug.

He hugged her back. Now, a few tears rolled down his face. It had been so long since he'd last seen his mom, and now he had to leave. Again. For another dangerous mission. They seemed to be endless. A part of him wanted to stay in his mother's arms forever. To always be out of danger and not have to worry her. He wished he could be safe like he promised. But he couldn't. Percy knew that he had to be the glue of the Seven.

But they stayed in a hug for a long time, and Percy was glad that his back was to the Van so his friends couldn't see his tears. He had to be strong for them. And his mom.

Eventually, Sally was the one to break the hug. She took his hand in her hand and squeezed it tight.

"Be brave."

And with those last two words, Percy's hand was let go of as she walked back into the house leaving him on the concrete path.

He walked toward the van and reached out for the car door handle. But then he stopped and turned around to face the house.

A door opened behind him and he heard someone walk towards him. He didn't need to look to know who it was, so he stood in the same position.

Annabeth laid her hand on his shoulder.

After a few moments, he turned and hugged her. She, in turn, hugged him back.

Annabeth didn't say anything but she comforted him at the same time. It was exactly what he needed to make him feel better.

For a while they stayed like that, but then Percy pulled away from the hug.

"You okay?" Annabeth asked gently, caringly looking into his eyes.

Percy smiled sadly and said, "I'm fine, I've just been sweating from my eyes." And Percy winked at her.

Annabeth smiled and wiped some "sweat" off from his cheek and softly kissed his lips.

They walked back to the van and Percy got back into the driver's seat and Annabeth sat down into the passenger's. The other three demigods were just sitting quietly in the back.

Percy put the key in the ignition and turned on the car. He resisted the sudden urge to cry, took a breath, and closed his eyes.

Hazel reached forward and softly put her hand on Percy's shoulder. "Take your time," She said.

He nodded and took a long, deep breath.

"Want me to drive?" Annabeth offered politely.

"Nah, it's good," He said. "I'm fine." His voice was slightly hoarse from crying – no, 'sweating', but he wiped his eyes and put the shift into 'drive' and drove away from his apartment, not looking back.

'Time to be glue,' He thought.

Beta'd by clashgrrl

Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks clashgrrl for beta'ing and helping me not make it as soppy haha Hope it wasn't too soppy for you, please don't complain. Rick Riordan gave a clear message that Percy loves his mom and Percy hadn't seen her for eight months so I tried to imagine what that'd be like for him and this is what I came up with haha

Thanks a lot for reading, please review!